With four weeks left in the season, there are still six division crowns and 10 total playoff spots up for grabs. Congratulations to the Packers and 49ers, who have clinched the NFC North and West, respectively. Meanwhile, here’s a look at what can happen this week.

We know that Texans LB Connor Barwin is a bad man, but so bad that the Jaguars fired coach Jack Del Rio and then owner Wayne Weaver sold the team, all after Barwin recorded four sacks against two quarterbacks in a 20-13 Texans win in Jacksonville on Sunday?

Think the Bears’ playoff chances are done without Jay Cutler? Can the same be said about the Texans without Matt Schaub? Not according to Brian Billick and Jim Mora. Hear what the coaches have to say about those teams’ chances going forward, as well as other hot topics around the league in this week’s podcast. Subscribe to Podcast on iTunes

This time of year, everyone is starting to line up their teams as ponies in an NFL derby race toward the Super Bowl. You have the usual steeds – the Packers, Steelers, and the Patriots – but a few interesting names are starting to enter the mix.

On Wednesday, we looked at how the division leaders stack up in terms of total defense. So today we decided to see how the eight first-place teams stack up when you take into account their overall ranking for both total offense and total defense. One thing to note is that there isn’t a great deal of balance among these teams. and only two of the division leaders — the Steelers and Texans — rank in the top 10 of both categories.

There was an interesting note this week in the NFL Media research packet pointing out that the top eight teams in the NFL in total defense all come from the AFC. Pretty crazy, considering it used to be that the NFC was known for rugged defense and the AFC was known for high-scoring aerial attacks.

Andre Johnson, Sam Bradford and Fred Davis were either limited or missing from practice Wednesday, but all hold out hope of playing Sunday. Fantasy owners, however, might want to consider contingency plans.

Texans linebacker Brian Cushing is playing better than just about any defender in the NFL and is the driving force behind Houston’s vastly improved defense. He joined the Cover Two Podcast to discuss his strong start.

With the monotony of Indianapolis’ annual contention for the AFC South stifled by Peyton Manning’s injury, Houston and Tennessee will battle for the division lead Sunday as we approach the season’s midpoint.

The Texans have gotten off to a fast start this season, and it’s fast starts that have contributed to that 3-1 record. Houston has outscored its opponents 76-13 in the first half of games. That’s been good enough to hold on for the most part, but the Texans do need to avoid the second-half letdown — particularly in the third quarter, when they’ve been outscored 21-3.